The invention relates generally to Electronic Program Guides (EPGs). More specifically, the invention relates to systems and methods that allow a viewer to access network programming using channel references made at a preferred region at any region where the same network programming is made available.
Today, cable and satellite television systems are commonplace and offer virtually unlimited program content. Each network broadcast is frequency-shifted to channels at a cable or satellite provider headend instead of the final viewing location. A cable set-top box (converter) transposes any of the available channels from the cable headend to a single channel. While many televisions are cable ready with a standard converter built-in, the existence of premium television pay-per-view and on-demand programming require a set-top box for cable or satellite television reception.
Most cable and satellite television service providers divide their channel lineups into three or four basic channel packages. The basic programming package is known as basic cable and provides access to a large number of cable TV channels, as well as broadcast television networks such as CBS, ABC, NBC, PBS, etc., and local access channels. In addition to the basic cable packages, most providers offer premium channel add-on packages offering either just one premium network or several premium networks for one price. Finally, most providers offer Pay-Per-View (PPV) channels where users can watch individual movies, live programs, sports, etc. for an additional fee for single viewing at a scheduled time. Some providers offer on-demand programming where customers can select programs from a list of offerings including recent releases of movies, concerts, sports, and reruns of television shows and specials and start the program whenever they wish.
Many providers operate as local monopolies in the United States, as one provider typically receives the right to serve a region as a result of a franchise agreement with a local government. The rise of Direct Broadcast Satellite systems providing the same programming content using small satellite receivers and Verizon Fiber Optic Service (FiOS) and other recent ventures by Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECS) such as AT&T U-verse compete with cable.
For network selection, providers typically rely on an Electronic Program Guide (EPG). An EPG is an on-screen guide to scheduled broadcast television or radio programs, typically with functions allowing a subscriber to navigate, select and discover content by channel, time, title, genre, etc. by use of a remote control, a keyboard, or other input devices. In conjunction with Program Delivery Control (PDC), content may also be scheduled for future recording by a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) or Personal Video Recorder (PVR). The on-screen information may be delivered by a dedicated channel or assembled by the set-top box from information sent by each program channel. The technology is based upon broadcasting data to an application usually residing within middleware in a set-top box which connects to the television set and enables the application to be displayed.
EPG technology is predominant in digital television and radio, but EPGs also include analog technology. Guide Plus+, for example, uses the Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI). These signals may arrive via cable TV, satellite TV, cable radio, satellite radio, or via over-the-air terrestrial broadcast radio and television stations.
By navigating through an EPG on a receiving device, subscribers can see more information about current network programming and future programming. When EPGs are coupled to PVRs, they enable a viewer to plan her viewing and record broadcast programs to a hard disk for later viewing.
Typical elements of an EPG comprise a Graphical User Interface (GUI) which enable the display of program titles, descriptive information such as a synopsis, actors, directors, year of production, and so on, the network name, the channel reference, programming from subchannels such as Pay-Per-View (PPV) and Video-On-Demand (VOD) services, program start times, genres and other descriptive metadata. EPG information is typically displayed as a grid with the option to select more information on each program. Radio EPGs offer more text-based displays of program name, program description, genre, on-air or off-air, series, artist, album, and track title information.
The latest EPG revolution is a personalized EPG which uses semantics to be able to advise viewers what to watch based on their interests. iFanzy is a personal EPG. It allows users to use or create custom skins and knows what they like to see. It also records these programs so that the viewer no longer has to depend on a broadcaster's time schedule but watch a program at the moment of choice.
EPGs are typically sent within the network broadcast transport stream or in a special data channel. For example, the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) standard for Digital Television (DTV) uses tables sent in each station's Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP). These tables contain the program start time and title, and additional program descriptive metadata for the set-top box to assemble.
Some EPG systems use third party metadata aggregators such as Tribune TV Data, Gemstar-TV Guide, and others, to provide data content. Newer media centers such as Personal Computer (PC) based multi-channel TV recorders and digital video recorders may use the Internet for an EPG. This enables two-way interactivity for the user so that media download may be requested via the EPG and remote programming of the media center may be enabled using IceTV and MythTV.
In developing EPG software, manufacturers must include functions to address the growing volumes of increasingly complex data associated with programming. This data includes program descriptions, schedules, ratings, user configuration information such as favorite channel lists, and multimedia content. To meet this need, some set-top box software designs incorporate a database layer that uses either proprietary functions or an embedded database for sorting, storing and retrieving programming data.
With consumers being offered so many network channels from any number of television, cable, or satellite service providers, consumers may take some time to become familiar with the channel references for their favorite networks. While some EPGs have a favorite channels function, that function is only for one set-top box. Once familiar with a service provider's channel line-up (network-to-channel mapping) available at one region, it becomes a problem for those who then move to another region, visit another region or travel. Even changing from one television/cable/satellite service provider to another while remaining at the same region is problematic since each provider may have a different channel line-up. Even the same provider may change their channel line-up occasionally due to programming changes by adding new channels or removing existing channels. For those who travel, each geographic region will most likely have a different channel line-up.
FIG. 1 shows four abbreviated channel line-ups 101 by service provider A and service provider B at regions 1 and 2. At the viewer's (subscriber's) residence located in region 1, the viewer may have a set of regularly viewed networks (NBC, ESPN2, A&E, The Learning Channel, The Science Channel, HBO HD) with a familiar channel line-up (10, 30, 40, 50, 110, 300) 103 by cable service provider A. Next door, also located in region 1, satellite service provider B may offer the viewer's favorite networks, but with a different channel line-up 105.
In region 2, 150 miles away, service provider A offers the viewer's favorite networks, but region 2 has a different channel line-up 107. Also in region 2, satellite service provider B offers the viewer's favorite networks, also having a different channel line-up 109. The channel line-ups 103, 105, 107 and 109 may be associated with a respective service provider headend 111, 113, 115 and 117.
Channel line-ups become more problematic as the number of channels offered by service providers increase. Many service providers offer subscribers hundreds of different channels to choose from. A viewer away from their normal region and service provider may have to scroll through hundreds of channels or enlist searches to locate favorite networks.
What is desired are systems and methods that allow for a viewer to locate favorite networks quickly by having the same channel line-up available regardless of region and service provider.